Newsflash: The Key to Nonprofit Data Storytelling Isn’t the Data or the Storytelling

“Thank you all in advance for completing this survey with the youth you serve. We know that you all are doing incredible work, and we can’t wait to celebrate that work in the growth we measure in this survey. Numbers will never tell the whole story, but they are an essential ingredient to help us understand our program’s successes and communicate those back to funders.”

“To be clear, we don’t expect to see growth in every area; we know there are a lot of other factors in kids’ lives outside of your control. In fact, we look forward to helping identify the areas where our program hasn’t moved the needle, because that gives you the opportunity to think about what you all might do to address those areas next school year. Our Impact team is here to support, so for real, please reach out if you have any questions or need anything!”

And with that, the room erupted in applause! Okay, so maybe ‘erupted’ overstates it, but the clapping that followed this impromptu wrap-up speech sure was enthusiastic.

Why the enthusiasm? What was the point of that speech? And why isn’t good survey design and data visualization enough for nonprofits to make effective use of data?

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I gave this speech a few weeks ago at a survey administration training for a large group of service delivery staff, which I was overseeing in my role as BUILD’s Director of Impact. Other members of our Impact team facilitated the training; my role was to kick things off and then drive home the purpose at the end.

There are lots of nitty-gritties to convey in a training like this: the survey timeline, options for paper vs. electronic completion, and administration do’s and don’ts. But how the training is delivered matters just as much as the content itself. Fact is, anyone overseeing a process like this holds a lot of power: we’re the ones setting the expectations, and program staff must meet them (or else). This power imbalance — typified in this training, but reflected in the relationship between data staff and program staff more broadly — can lead to mistrust, disengagement, and ultimately poorer data collection efforts.

This is why the key to effective nonprofit data storytelling isn’t the data or the storytelling. When organizations struggle to use data effectively, nine times out of ten, the central issue isn’t the tools or processes they are using; it’s the culture.

The DSC’s Nonprofit Data Storytelling Framework identifies Culture as its first focus area, defined this way: “Nonprofits should value using data for learning and improving service delivery, not just reporting and compliance”. So often, nonprofit data storytelling efforts* are framed as being for the data folks, or external funders, or executive leadership, or the Board, or donors. These are all worthy audiences, yet if they are the main focus, then the program staff — who are usually the ones carrying out the data collection —view data as being for others and not for them. ‘Compliance’ isn’t a bad word, but when that’s the main purpose, data collection becomes either boring, stressful, or both, and the quality and completeness of the data collected suffers as a result.

(*As noted in our previous blog post, the term ‘data storytelling’ includes program evaluation, impact measurement, and quality improvement.)

When organizations struggle to use data effectively, nine times out of ten, the central issue isn’t the tools or processes; it’s the culture.

How can nonprofit data storytellers swim against this current to transform the data culture within our organizations? How can we help them begin to value using data for learning and improving service delivery? Here are four starting points:

(1)     Build connections and trust with program staff. We should spend time visiting programs and seeing them in action. Learn staff members’ names. Listen to and start addressing their data-related pain points. The reason I could truthfully say, “We know that you all are doing incredible work”, is that I’ve made these personal connections and seen their work with my own eyes.

(2)     Use our work to celebrate program successes. We should embrace a “can’t wait to celebrate” attitude and shine a spotlight on any encouraging data collection results. Leading with the positive engenders goodwill and helps program staff feel like their data collection efforts were worth it. If our funders and Board are hearing about program successes, our program staff should hear about them as well.

(3)     Be honest about the limits of our work. We should freely admit that human service outcomes are very difficult to measure. “Numbers don’t tell the whole story”, because not everything that matters can be quantified, and because the hard choices involved in data collection — namely, what questions to ask and how to ask them — necessarily limit the stories we’re able to tell. Humility invites engagement.

(4)     Model a growth mindset when identifying areas for improvement. We should help program staff see undesired results — a missed target, a lack of pre/post growth — as normal, healthy opportunities for learning. When program staff can “think about what you all might do to address those areas next school year”, it shifts the conversation from blame to curiosity.

‘Compliance’ isn’t a bad word, but when that’s the main purpose, data collection becomes either boring, stressful, or both.

In the end, a speech reflecting these starting points won’t accomplish much on its own. Transforming the data culture within a nonprofit takes daily effort — one interaction, one email, one meeting at a time — to build trust, celebrate successes, own our limitations, and model a growth mindset. But when we commit to that effort, nonprofit data storytellers can help others in our organizations to value data as a tool for organizational learning. And when that happens, “impact” can go from a buzzword to reality.